1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvement in an imaging apparatus suitably used for a camera that detects a focus state.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is a camera that has a photographing mode which can automatically and collectively set optimal photographing operations according to photographing environments. The camera of this type includes a portrait photographing mode best suited to human photographing, a landscape photographing mode best suited to landscape photographing, a night scene photographing mode best suited to night scene photographing, and the like, which all have names to enable easy recognition of respective photographing environments. Only by selecting a photographing mode suited to a photographing environment, a photographer can automatically and collectively set various predefined setting values such as a shutter speed value, a diaphragm value, and an exposure correction value.
In the camera having such photographing modes, the photographer can set various setting values according to a photographing environment without any expertise.
However, setting values that can be collectively set by selecting the photographing mode are various setting values employed to achieve a “generally” suited photographing operation. Consequently, an optimal photographing operation is not always achieved concerning “more specific” photographing of the selected photographing mode.
Thus, in a camera discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-184432, which automatically and collectively sets photographing operations by selecting a photographing mode according to a photographing environment, setting of focus driving concerning a focus adjustment operation in the photographing mode is also switched. This enables improvement of operability so that an optimal photographing operation can be carried out during “more specific” photographing of the selected photographing mode especially for the focus driving.
However, in the camera discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-184432, which has a focus detection operation suited to photographing of a moving object, there is no operation mode of automatically and collectively setting optimal focus detection operations according to the movement of the object.
Conventionally, there is a camera that can set a focus detection operation when the object becomes out of focus due to entry of obstacles or movement into the background. Such a camera can change the focus detection operation to continue focusing as long as possible on the target object even when the target object becomes out of focus. Conversely, when the target object is changed, the camera can change the focus detection operation to immediately focus on the currently targeted object.
The change in setting of the focus detection operation according to the movement of the object to be photographed enables better focusing. However, such a change in the focus detection operation forces the photographer to acquire expertise and gain photographing experience. Consequently, the photographer finds it difficult to know how to set in a scene to be photographed. An inexperienced user who has no knowledge on specific setting cannot use the camera. The photographer changes the setting according to his/her own photographing style or a photographing scene. However, optimal setting cannot always be set.